Railway-frog



UNITED STATES PATENT OEEICE.

HENRY ELLIOT, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

RAILWAY-FROG.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 318,240, dated May 19, 1885.

Application filed February 13, 18%. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom/it may concern.-

Be it known that l, HENRY ELLIOT, a citizen of the -United States, residing at St. Louis, in the State of Missouri, have invented a eertain new and useful Improvementin Railway Frogs, of which the following is a specifica` tion, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of the same.

My improvement relates to the class of switches used where the track has more than one gage.

Figurelis a top View showing theimprovcd frog in connection with a switch. Figs. 2 and 3 are top views of the frog, showing the movable tongue in its two positions. Fig. 4 is a transverse section at et 4, Fig. t. Fig. 5 is a top view of a switch not having the improvement, said iigure being introduced to clearly indicate what is old and what is new and purpose of the improvement.

The drawingsshow a left-hand three-rail frog.

rlhe improvement will be described as applied to a track having the common gage of four feet eight and one-half inches and a veloot gage; but of course is not confined to these gages.

For convenience the track having both the common and broad gages will be called the main track,77 and that having only the broad gage will be called the side track.7

A, B, and C are the fixed rails of thev main track, the rail A being common to both gages, the rail B being a commoirgage rail and the rail C a broad-gage rail. The rails D and E form the broad-gage side track.

A', B', and C' areswitch-rails that may form Aa continuation of the rails A B C of the main the rails B and C run straight through the frog onto the main-track rails B2 and C2 at the other end of thefrog, and vice versa. A wheel on the rail D will run obliquely through the frog onto the rail D at the other end of tne frog, and vice versa- The rails C and D end at the frog in guard-rails G and G. VThe rails C2 and D' end at the frog in apoint, Dwhose sides are in line with the sides of the rails. The rail B2 ends at the frog in a point, B, one side of which is in line with the side of the rail, and the otherside, b, is oblique and in line with thc inner side ot' the rail D. This construction offrog is shown alike in Figs. 2, 3, and 5,'and in the latter figure the end of the rail B (at the frog) is a fixed point, B, one side of which is in line with the side of the rail, and the other side, b', is inclined in a line parallel withthe side b, so as to give room for the passage of the flanges of wheels ruiming on the rail D and crossing the frog obliquely.

VBly improvement consists in lengthening the end portion or point B, in making it movable, in n'ioditying its construction and the construction ofthe rail C,and in connecting itwith switch-lever or device for moving it to either side.

The points ofnovclty will now be described.

The point or tongue B4 is so connected to the end ofthe rail at b3 as to allow some side movement of its free end, (marked b' 52,) which rests on the base-plate H, to which the rails C D, guard-rail G', and point B are bolted or riveted. The point of the tongue is beveled 01T on both sides b' b2, the side b fitting iiatly against the side b of the pointBi. The side?)2 is beveled off sufficiently to avoid all danger of being struck by the flange ot' a wheel running fronl the rail B2 to the rail B. Suiiicient of the bases of the tongue B4and the rail Cin proximity to it are removed to allow thetongue to be moved ont of the course of the iiange of a wheel running from the rail D oblique] y across the frog to the rail D'.

I is the switchrod,passing through the web ot the guard-rail G, and` having a T-head, i, locked in the web otl the tongue Bt, said web having a slot, b4, through which the head t' is passed, and in which it is locked by a quarterturn. In constructing this rod I have taken an inch and a quarter round bar and turned near one end a neck, fi', whose length equals the thickness of the web of the tongue. The head is then out away at both sides,-.leaving a head of T form. The rod I maybe connect IOO ed in any manner to a lever or switch-stand, by which the tongue Dl may be operated. I have shown the rod I connected by a rod, J, to the hell-crank lever K, which is connected by a rod or gas-pipe, L, to a bell-crank lever, M, to which is connected the switch-bar F, the arrangement being such that when the switchrails A and C are thrown in line with the sidetrack rails D E the tongue B4 shall be thrown against the rail C and make way for the wheel- Aflange between the tongue B and the point B3;

whereas when the tongue Bis in contact with point B" the rails A, B, and C are in line with the switch-rails A', B', and C', respectively, and the cars of both gages run straight through the switch.

pendent device.

I do not confine myself' to the described construction ofswiteh-rod l, nor do l claim to be the inventor ofthe same.

The main purpose ol my invention is to give a continuous bearing to the tread of' carwheels ruiming straight through the frog on Even beyond this space the thin ends ol the points do not furnish adequate support, as they are mashed down by concentrated pressure of the wheels. To give the necessary support to struction of the points, it has been customary 35 to form a bearing for the anges of the wheels; but such bearing has been found to wear away very quickly, owing to the backward slip of the langes upon it resulting` from the flange having a greater circumference than the tread of the wheel.

It will be understood that the points in ordinary frogs are protected by the support given by the guard-rails, and in a compound frog, as the present, the point Dl (and in some cases B3) is so protected; but there is no space for the introduction of a guard-rail to underlie the tread of the wheel between the points Bi" B2 and consequently sonic other means must be adopted. The tongue B may, il" preferred, be worked by an independent hand-lever or other indel have described the point B as liXed and the-point Bx as movable; but the sa me end may be gained by reversing the conditions-that is, making the point BL fixed and B movable.

For practical reasons, however, the described I tongue B, all constructed and arranged suhstantially as and i'cr the purpose set forth.

HENRY ELLTOT. \\"'ituesses:

SMIL. KMGHT,

the wheels at this place and prevent the de BENIN. A'. KNIGHT. 

